The prophet(SAW) said: “Any action without the remembrance of Allah is either a diversion or heedlessness excepting four acts: Walking from target to target [during archery practice], training a horse, playing with one’s family, and learning to swim.” (Reported by Tabarani.)

drowning prevention strategy for infants and young children

Action Plan

Dress modestly when you swimming and ensure your children are covered correctly when swimming.

Put sunscreen even if it is cloudy when swimming there are still UV rays

Try to swim where there is no intermingling and immodest dressing.

How do I start?

1. If you are afraid of the water, you should start by standing up in the shallow end of the pool holding the wall and try to squat, so you get your chin close to the water. Breath easily. Once you are comfortable, try to go deeper under water while holding your breath. Now, don’t just go up and down quickly, relax and use nice smooth motion to get up and down. If that is ok, try to stay with your head submerged for longer. If you have your goggles, open your eyes, look around you and explore the beauty of the water.

2. Now that we have mastered this, it is time for bubbles. Squat down holding the wall, so your mouth is submerged and start blowing bubbles through your mouth. You are still nice and relaxed and going up, taking a breath, and down, blowing bubbles for a few seconds. Try to increase the time you are under water blowing bubbles.

3. It is time you learn how to stand back up from horizontal swimming position. You are standing up, your arms are at your side, slowly lay on the water facing down while extending your arms above your head. So you end up laying on the water as a log stretching your arms as far forward as possible with your palms down. Hold your breath (keep your mouth shut :)) and relax. Your body should be flat, the surface of the water should be hitting you in the middle of your hair on top of your head, so get that chin toward your chest. Whenever you are ready to stand up, palms of your hands are facing the bottom of the pool and start moving them slowly from the front above your head, down toward your hips keeping your arms straight. So, they will make nice half a circle. At the same time, slowly bring your knees to your chest. Basically, you will try to become a ball and use your hands/arms to rotate your head out of the water (backwards) and your feet down toward the bottom. Once in that position, just extand your feet and slowly stand up.

At this point, you should be fairly comfortable being in the water. If not, keep practicing, until you handle 1,2,3 with ease. Good luck and remember, water is not evil. Don’t think too much about it, we all have instincts to survive.
source: Tips for beginners of all ages (kids, adults) – part 1